Cognitive accessibility
Cognitive accessibility is about making content easy to understand and use for people with learning differences, memory issues, ADHD, dyslexia or anxiety.
In plain terms
It covers plain language, clear layouts, predictable navigation, generous time limits, and not overloading people with steps or jargon. It's the least "technical" area of accessibility and often the most overlooked, yet it helps by far the largest group of users.
Why it matters
A page can pass every technical checkpoint and still be unusable if it's confusing. WCAG 2.2 added several criteria here — like consistent help, redundant entry and accessible authentication — precisely because this group was underserved.
Letting users paste a password (and use a password manager) instead of forcing them to remember and retype it — WCAG 2.2's Accessible Authentication.
Related terms
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